One team drafting Preston and Ruck twins "would be a dream come true" - Canada News Beep

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The Vancouver Canucks coming out of this weekend’s NHL draft with twin brothers Markus and Liam Ruck of the Medicine Hat Tigers and their academy hockey line mate Mathis Preston of the Vancouver Giants would take a great many things falling into place.

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The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler did have it happening in one of his mock drafts this week, though, with Preston going to Vancouver at No. 24 followed by Liam at No. 33 and Markus at No. 41.

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And Preston admits that he’s allowed the idea of the trio being selected by the same team — the Canucks, or another squad — to sneak into his mind.

They were teammates at Penticton’s Okanagan Hockey Academy for four seasons. At the Under-15 Prep level in 2022-23, they snagged the top three spots in the Canadian Sport School scoring race — Liam (53-37-90), Markus (22-65-87) and Preston (45-36-81) in a 27-game season.

“Honestly, I have thought about being drafted by the same team as the Rucks and it would be a dream come true,” Preston, who’s from Penticton, explained of the brothers from Osoyoos. “It would be such a surreal moment, such a special moment for our families. It would be one of the best moments of my life if it were to happen.

“I hope it happens, but, at the same time, I’m happy to get drafted to any team and as early as I can, because I’m super competitive.”

It’s twin brothers Liam (left) and Markus Ruck of the Medicine Hat Tigers. The siblings are from Osoyoos. Photo by Randy Feere /Medicine Hat Tigers

Preston was traded by the Spokane Chiefs to the Giants at the January trade deadline this past season, and then suffered a knee injury in his second game with Vancouver and was sidelined for six weeks.

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He wound up playing 10 games with the Giants and totalling four goals and 12 points. He was strong for Team Canada at the Under-18 worlds after that, scoring two goals and six points in five games. He had 14 goals and 32 points in 36 games with Spokane.

As much as he admits that he’s thought about things like being drafted by same team as the Rucks, he also says he feels that he’s managing to keep away from the pre-draft hype and hoopla outside noise.

“I’ve been trying to stay off the social media as much as I can. You see a bunch of rankings and stuff like that out there, and everyone’s not going to love your game. But I’m confident in my ability and I have a dream to chase. I’m not going to let anyone on social media get in the way of that,” he explained.

Markus (21-87-108) and Liam (45-59-104), who were line mates with Medicine Hat, took the top two spots in WHL scoring parade this past regular season.

SEwen@postmedia.com